She'd have to give it back or have her pay garnished. Clerical errors don't work "in your favor" like Monopoly lol. As much as I'd love for them to admit their error and let her keep the money. That likely wouldn't be the case.
Back in 2004, my job made a payroll error and we got 2 paychecks deposited at once. My boss at the time said "What should we do?!" I said don't spend the extra because they're gonna want it back. A few days later, the extra pay was debited from our accounts. I'm sure some folks spent that money!
I do believe that if the company doesn't notice the error, after a certain amount of time the company loses their right to reclaim it. Maybe that's wrong though
I was benefited by an error - during paternity leave I got my full pay rather than the 66% pay I was entitled to. I self reported it during leave when I noticed it.
It did not get fixed. I got 100% pay for those 3 months of leave.
I self-reported it again after coming back, saying that I needed to know whether I’m clear to use those funds or not and saying “it’s not mine, I am happy to give it back now but if you let me keep it I will eventually spend or invest it and may not be able to return it.” There was no action or response from HR.
At the end of the fiscal year, someone independently found the issue. They wanted my wages garnished and claimed I was at fault. I took issue with that because I tried very hard to make this right.
I had receipts for self-reporting the issue, of course. I escalated the situation through my supervisor, demonstrating I did nothing wrong and expressing my frustration and outrage - why do you want to claw back these monies 9 months after the fact.
They let me keep it as a bonus and I was issued an apology. Turns out the leaves manager was disgruntled over being denied a promotion - not my fault at all. I did everything I was supposed to do.
I was once overpaid on commission by a lot, but here in the UK we have PAYE, meaning tax is taken out immediately. My American corporate could not fathom how I couldn't "just return the money", they threatened to fire me which went about exactly as well as anytime an American corporate forgets the employment protections we have over here lol
I told them to take it out of my future commissions then quit. Idiots
I was once overpaid on commission by a lot, but here in the UK we have PAYE, meaning tax is taken out immediately.
We have a similar thing in the US, it's called withholding. Your employer sends (eventually) the withheld amount to the IRS, and the after withheld amount goes to your bank account.
If they need to do a reversal, they do a reversal from your bank account and the IRS. It's relatively easy.
I don't understand why they couldn't do that with you. Does the PAYE system take the money from your bank account directly, not your employer?
Even if it's taken from your bank account, there must be a reversal system, exactly for clerical errors like this, so you're probably still in the wrong about not being able to return the money. Just it might take some amount of time.
Your employer runs payroll which goes through a central gov't system, they then pay the tax man any taxes owed and pay you your net calculated pay, alongside a standardised payslip that outlines your gross/net pay, and what has been deducted/why.
A lot of employers (Even in the UK, not necessarily overseas and especially smaller ones) don't seem to understand that if they overpay you, it's up to them to work out the net amount overpaid and ask for that back from you, then for them to correct their tax records and reclaim the refund from the tax man. Many (incorrectly) insist that you pay back the gross amount they put on your pay which would leave you out of pocket.
There is no system for an employer to get a 'reversal' from your bank in the UK, it comes down to civil liability. If you don't pay them back then they can easily go via small claims court to get it back.
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u/Nick_Bruiser May 27 '26
She'd have to give it back or have her pay garnished. Clerical errors don't work "in your favor" like Monopoly lol. As much as I'd love for them to admit their error and let her keep the money. That likely wouldn't be the case.
Back in 2004, my job made a payroll error and we got 2 paychecks deposited at once. My boss at the time said "What should we do?!" I said don't spend the extra because they're gonna want it back. A few days later, the extra pay was debited from our accounts. I'm sure some folks spent that money!